BIO: For decades we’ve been hearing the legend from the northwest racing circuit: “We were doing great then all of a sudden this big cat came out of nowhere, blew past us then we never saw them again.” The legends fly around with an R2AK-style relationship to the truth. Bad Kitty won Swiftsure, took podium honors in one race or another, repaired their broken crossbrace with a drivetrain out of a Dodge, sailed so fast that they lapped the fleet in the VanIsle 360…it’s safe to say we don’t know what’s true and what’s myth at this point.

Fast custom racing cat with a crew that has been sailing, tweaking the boat, and gaining local knowledge for 35 years? Just their name strikes fear into racing hearts everywhere. Because they were either killing it and so far ahead or cobbling their latest repair and so far behind no one seemed to have actually seen them much beyond the starting line. “We saw them on the entry list but we haven’t seen them since the start, are they even in this race?” The greatest trick Bad Kitty ever pulled was convincing the rest of us that they didn’t exist- they are the Keyser Söze of PNW sailing. Until they entered we honestly didn’t know if they were a real team or just a wind powered boogie man, a spook story that sailors tell their kids to scare them “Miss a tack and Bad Kitty will get you.”

Turns out either we are part of the conspiracy or they are very real, very serious, and in the hunt for R2AK glory in 2016. We used to sing barbershop quartet, back in Skokie Illinois, and the baritone was this big fat guy named Koybayashi who always said stuff like, “I don’t believe in God, but I’m afraid of him.” Well here in the R2AK bunker we believe in God, and the only thing that scares us is Bad Kitty.

You think you can catch Bad Kitty? You think a crew like that comes this close and sticks their head out? If they come up for anything, it will be for the win (or the steak knives) after that our guess is you’ll never hear from them again. There will be the starting gun, and then just like that- Poof- they’re gone.

Bad Kitty has been the scratch boat in our litter box for decades, each year they catch a few trophies to leave on the door step, rebuild the boat to make themselves even more competitive, then clean their ears and race off to the kitchen to attack the vacuum cleaner (that last bit could be our actual cat). This year they’ve shed the shackles of the PHRF handicaps, added a pedal drive, and turned into the legend to beat in 2016.